Walcott's Insights on Arsenal's Win and Eze's Performance

Theo Walcott suspects Mikel Arteta walked off the Emirates pitch on Friday night with one small irritation on his mind – and it had nothing to do with the scoreline.

Arsenal opened their Premier League title defence with a commanding 3-0 win over Coventry City, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard striking in a performance that rarely left second gear. The champions were slick, ruthless and largely untroubled. Arteta, though, is a manager obsessed with details. That’s where Eberechi Eze comes in.

Walcott’s warning over Eze’s late free-kick

Eze began the night on the bench and only entered the game with 14 minutes to play, replacing Christos Tzolis. With the result already secure, it looked the ideal window for fringe players to catch Arteta’s eye, to plant a seed for future team sheets.

Instead, one moment stuck with Walcott – Eze’s ambitious long-range free-kick in the closing stages that sailed high over the bar.

“Creating that winning mentality is so important for this team because as soon as you start those habits it’s hard for these teams,” Walcott told Premier League Productions. “You saw Coventry, they didn’t know what to do at times, there were too big gaps, too big spaces.”

Arsenal dominated with what Walcott described as the “handbrake off”, yet he felt there was still more to come from this side. And from the substitutes.

“Even when the substitutions came on, that’s when their chances are to show Mikel, ‘don’t forget about me’,” he said. “I felt some could have done a little bit more coming on maybe, but it’s the first game of the season and you’ve got to give them the benefit of the doubt.

“It’s just a reminder to the guys who aren’t starting that it’s a big, deep squad. If you want to be in that starting line-up, there are standards that Mikel will be looking into.

“Eze having that shot at the end… I’m not sure he will be happy with that. I know it’s such a small thing but these are little details that he will look into each individual player if he’s going to be with them throughout the season, that’s just a sign to see.”

One wild effort in a 3-0 win might seem insignificant. Under Arteta, it can be the difference between staying on the fringes and forcing your way into the core group.

Tzolis draws Alexis Sanchez comparison

If Eze’s cameo came with a warning, Tzolis’ first Premier League outing for Arsenal arrived with something closer to a fanfare.

The £34 million summer signing from Club Brugge started on the left and immediately caught Walcott’s attention, both with his intent and his style.

“I like him a lot, he reminds me of Alexi [Sanchez],” Walcott said. “The reason why I say that, when he gets the ball his first touch is positive, his first thought is forward, attack the full-back.”

That was peak Alexis territory. Relentless, direct, always dragging defenders into uncomfortable positions.

“Alexi would always give the full-back a headache and even wearing the number 17 reminds me of him, I know he moved to the number seven when Tomas Rosicky moved on,” Walcott added.

There was more to the comparison than just the shirt number. Walcott highlighted the way Tzolis “glides on the field” and how his teammates were already looking for him, feeding his confidence as the game wore on.

“They want to keep on giving it to him as well, I think you can see the confidence is growing and growing, he has got a bit more pace about him than Trossard does, so he’s a bit of a hybrid between Trossard and Alexis.

“But very impressed, when he gets fitter and players get to know his game a lot more, but I like what I see so far, really impressed.”

Arsenal’s opening night offered a familiar message. The starting XI looks sharp, the squad looks deep, and the standards under Arteta remain unforgiving. For players like Eze and Tzolis, every touch from here shapes where they sit in that hierarchy over a long, demanding season.